As Shirou had said, the same trick wouldn't work on a Saint once they had seen it.
Although he and Semiramis were not Saints, their minds worked even better than those of Saints, so it was natural that they wouldn't fall for the same trick twice.
The moment Ishtar's spear was airborne, Semiramis began manipulating space. However, she didn't follow Shirou's suggestion to transfer it. The power of Broken Phantasm: The Destroyed Illusion was too immense, and its burst speed too rapid. Even a demigod-level magus like Semiramis couldn't completely transfer it. Hence, she opted for a compromise: deflecting the explosion away from the Greater Grail at the cost of destroying the entire palace to preserve the Greater Grail.
The loud noise and bright light from the explosion dissipated, and the presence of the enemies had long vanished from perception.
Using the eyes hidden throughout the courtyard, Semiramis saw the Servants jumping out from the breach in the dragon-winged soldiers' nest, and she couldn't help but curse.
"Damn it, they're fast!"
"Should we say that the potential of humans in a crisis is indeed extraordinary?"
Hearing Shirou's leisurely comment, Semiramis' already terrible mood worsened.
"Shut up. If you had acted sooner instead of endlessly spouting nonsense, they would have been dead already. How would they have had a chance to escape?"
"Uh..."
Shirou hesitated for a moment before adding, "I think they still would have had a chance. Chiron wouldn't have kept that 'group detoxification' skill unused."
"It wouldn't have been like now, where they all escaped. At least we could have killed a few, maybe even met the criteria for activating the Greater Grail. Even if we were short by a bit, I could still sacrifice a certain useless writer."
"Hey, hey, Empress of Assyria, that statement—"
"You have a problem with it?"
Semiramis glanced sideways, and a series of magic bullets lined up behind her, scaring Shakespeare into hiding behind Karna.
"No, I mean, yes, but I don't dare to say."
"Then don't speak!"
"Alright, alright, don't bully Caster."
Shirou stepped forward, blocking Semiramis' line of sight.
"Even if you did kill him, it wouldn't be of any use."
"How could it be useless? Didn't you say the Greater Grail needs the souls of seven Servants to become an omnipotent wishing machine?"
"That's true, but the prerequisite is—those souls must indeed enter the Greater Grail."
"What do you mean?"
"Let's put it this way, you know this is called the Greater Grail, but do you know why it's called the Greater Grail?"
When he said "Greater," Shirou emphasized the word.
"The Greater Grail... so there's a Lesser Grail?"
Shakespeare, with his literary background, had strong associative abilities.
"Exactly, because there's also a Lesser Grail. The Lesser Grail is the key to activating the Greater Grail and serves as a container for the souls of the heroic spirits. Only when the Lesser Grail is formed will the souls be transferred to the Greater Grail and activate it. If the Lesser Grail is absent, even if all seven Servants die, the Greater Grail won't activate. Historically, there have been instances where the Lesser Grail was destroyed, resulting in no victor."
Semiramis asked, "Where is the Lesser Grail?"
"It was supposed to be here."
Shirou pointed to the center of the Greater Grail, at those bizarre golden humanoid shapes. One of the humanoid figures had noticeable missing parts from its hands and upwards, and the missing shape was exactly that of a cup.
"But now, it's gone."
Semiramis carefully recalled the entire transfer process and suddenly exclaimed.
"During the transfer, something fell from the Greater Grail, yes, it seemed like a cup—damn Black Assassin, damn Pegasus, you should have killed him earlier!"
"Well, the Holy Grail War is about competing for the Grail. Isn't it a bit too overbearing to say only we can take it and others can't?"
Faced with Shirou's half-joking, half-advising words, Semiramis placed her hands on her hips and arrogantly raised her head like a black swan.
"I've always been like this. Didn't you know?"
"Yes, yes, all hail the Empress, the Empress is supreme."
Shirou and Shakespeare, who were not meeting Semiramis for the first time, exchanged glances and spoke in unison, looking like two sycophants.
Seeing the two annoying guys backing down—though only superficially—Semiramis's mood improved somewhat. She unconsciously put her thumb to her chin and pondered:
"But this is quite troublesome. Without the Lesser Grail, the Greater Grail cannot be activated, and to retrieve the Lesser Grail, it would be very difficult with just the three of us—"
Naturally excluding Shakespeare, Shirou's side had its combat power in Shirou himself, Semiramis, and Karna. Each of them was a top-tier Servant, overwhelmingly powerful, and in any other Holy Grail War, they would sweep through without question.
But this time was different. It was an undisputed fact that the remaining nine of the sixteen Servants had united under Jeanne d'Arc. They had three top-tier Servants among them, and the others were also first-rate or super first-rate. While their combat power might be slightly inferior, their overall strength surpassed that of our side.
Thinking of this, Semiramis's mood worsened again.
"Master, why did you have to say 'destroy the world'? If you had honestly stated your wish, it wouldn't have come to this."
"Sorry to interrupt," Karna, who usually just watched without speaking, suddenly spoke up, "What exactly is the priest's wish?"
Semiramis was taken aback: "Huh? You don't know?"
"I don't know."
Karna shook his head.
"Then why would you—the famous Karna—become a minion of a world-destroying demon?"
"I just saw that the priest's 'destroy the world' had another meaning beyond the literal one. Also, Assassin, you haven't been truthful."
"Which part?"
As a schemer who successfully ascended to the throne through deceit, Semiramis had told so many lies that she couldn't remember them all.
"Our Masters being thrown into the dragon-winged soldiers' nest by you, Archer and Rider were anxious, forgetting that the nest had been separated by you."
"Yes, I lied. So what?"
"I want to know what happened to our Masters."
"Can't you sense it? They're all gathered in a room in this courtyard... I think they should still be in human form because the 'poison' used was of that kind."
Facing Karna's cold gaze, Semiramis nonchalantly flashed a bewitching smile.
"If we let them run around freely, it would be troublesome. No matter how excellent they are, they are just magus in the end. Those who always think about stealing others' thunder are a nuisance."
"In terms of only thinking about yourself, you're the same kind of person."
Hearing Karna's blunt words, Semiramis didn't get angry but instead smiled even more brightly.
"Who would've thought you could say something like that? Are you angry?"
Unfortunately for her, Karna was not Achilles and didn't fall for Semiramis's provocation, choosing instead to remain silent, forcing her to mutter in frustration.
"Back to silence, how boring—well, even if you know the former Masters are not dead, so what?"